Remembering Papi. Resolviendo – Cuban style

My dad was an Electrical Engineer. A Cuban Engineer. Which made him brilliant and innovative with just a touch of Mad Scientist to him.

When we first arrived in this country, someone had given us a very old, very used, five foot tall refrigerator. We were grateful to have it, since we arrived here with nothing. A gift of a large appliance, no matter how old or short was nothing to be sneezed at.

That refrigerator was not just old, it was quite fragile. It was for sure not a big name, like Frigedaire or Maytag. It had one of those clunky metal handles that you pull down in order to open the fridge. I still remember that it made a big “ka-chunk” sound when you opened it. There was no sneaking food from this old beast. Having six kids in the family constantly pulling on that old handle was a bit too much for the old fridge to handle, (pun intended) and so it soon broke off.

Of course, we couldn’t afford a new refrigerator…

My dad, the Cuban Engineer to the rescue!

He found the largest screwdriver he could find. Seriously, it must have been at least 12 inches long. Then he attached some bolts to the bottom and attached it where the old handle had been and voila! New refrigerator handle!

We have no photos of this amazing thing. We barely have photos of ourselves during this time, but that’s not important right now.

Check out the sketch I’ve drawn from my very vivid memory of the thing. I always found it in turns amazing and hideous.

Mi abuelo, Eugieno was also an electrical engineer. I think I have a schematic for every electrical appliance I own. There was nothing he couldn’t or at least, wouldn’t try to fix! He once made my dog a wheelchair out of garbage can wheels and PVC, because he refused to let me put the poor sick thing to sleep! Abuelo will always be my hero, my caballero. <3